Assange explained that the algorithm, which he developed leading
up to WikiLeaks' first release of Podesta's emails last
September, "was built on a random-number generator, modified by
mathematical weights that reflected the pattern of the news cycle
in a typical week," Khatchadourian wrote.

"Imagine it this way," Assange said. "The WikiLeaks tank is
coming down the road. You can't tell when it got on the road,
when it is going to get off, how fast it is going, how big it is
— because it has a decoy exterior. They know that there are decoy
parameters because I say it, and so you never know what's a decoy
and what is not. It kind of paralyzes their thinking."

Assange said that he was deliberately non-transparent about what
information Wikileaks had before it was released, with the goal
of keeping the Clinton camp on its toes. He compared his tactics
to those of British intelligence agents during World War II.

"The advantage is greater to be a bit crafty — no, it's not just
being crafty. It comes, really, from what MI5 did in World War
Two," Assange said, recalling
Operation Mincemeat, in which the British famously planted
fake intelligence documents on a corpse dressed in a British navy
uniform, allowing the Germans to discover the body and the
disinformation.

"They stuffed secret information in his pockets, and had him wash
up on the coast of Spain, and then they made it clear to the
Germans that this was what they were doing," Assange said. "So
the Germans went from becoming fooled in one instance to doubting
every instance."

Khatchadourian also reported that a source close to WikiLeaks
told him that Guccifer 2.0, a hacker linked to Russian
intelligence who claims to have given the Democratic documents to
WikiLeaks, pressed Assange to release the first batch of hacked
emails before the Democratic National Convention in July.
Guccifer 2.0 complained to an American journalist that Assange
was "playing for time" and reportedly offered the documents to
journalist and researcher Emma Best.

A WikiLeaks staffer told Khatchadourian that the organization was
overwhelmed by the volume of information they received, and
Assange said the group missed its original deadline of July
18 — the Monday before the DNC — by four days due to "hiccups."

"We had these hiccups that delayed us, and we were given a little
more time—" Assange said, halting mid-sentence and then
adding, "to grow."

"It was unclear who had given him time, but whoever it was
clearly had leverage over his decisions," Khatchadourian
wrote. Assange later claimed that his source "did not
mandate a publication time."